Edvard Hagerup Grieg, Norway’s greatest composer, was born in Bergen on
June 15, 1843. Revealing unusual talent for music as a boy, he was sent
to the Leipzig Conservatory in 1858. He remained there several years, a
pupil of Plaidy, Moscheles, and Reinecke among others. In 1863 he
returned to his native land where several of his early compositions were
performed. He then lived for several years in Copenhagen. There he met
and became a friend of two musicians who interested him in Scandinavian
music and musical nationalism: Niels Gade and Rikard Nordraak. Under
their guidance and stimulation Grieg began writing music in a national
style, beginning with the _Humoresques_ for piano, op. 6, which he
dedicated to Nordraak. Grieg also became a sponsor of Scandinavian music
and composers by helping Nordraak organize a society for their benefit.
In 1866, Grieg helped arrange in Oslo the first concert ever given over
entirely to Norwegian music; a year later he helped found the Norwegian
Academy of Music. He also served as a conductor of the Harmonic Society,
an important influence in presenting Scandinavian music.
After marrying Nina Hagerup in 1867, Grieg settled in Oslo to assume an
imperial position in its musical life. He also achieved worldwide
recognition as a composer through his violin Sonata in F major, the A
major piano concerto, and the incidental music to Ibsen’s _Peer Gynt_.
He was the recipient of many honors both from his native land and from
foreign countries. His sixtieth birthday was honored as a national
Norwegian holiday. From 1885 on Grieg lived in a beautiful villa,
Troldhaugen, a few miles from Bergen. Music lovers made pilgrimages to
meet him and pay him tribute. His remains were buried there following
his sudden death in Bergen on September 4, 1907.
Its national identity is the quality that sets Grieg’s music apart from
that of most of the other Romanticists of his day. Though he rarely
quoted folk melodies or dance tunes directly, he produced music that is
Norwegian to its core. In his best music he speaks of Norway’s
geography, culture, people, backgrounds, holidays, and legends in
melodies and rhythms whose kinship with actual folk music is
unmistakable.
The _Holberg Suite_ for string orchestra, op. 40 (1885)—or to use its
official title of _From Holberg’s Time_—was written to honor the
bicentenary of Ludvig Holberg, often called the founder of Danish
literature. The composer also adapted this music for solo piano. Bearing
in mind that the man he was honoring belonged to a bygone era, Grieg
wrote a suite in classical style and with strictly classical forms; but
his own romantic and at times national identity is not sacrificed. The
first movement is a “Prelude,” a vigorous movement almost in march time.
This is followed by three classical dances—“Sarabande,” “Gavotte,” and
“Musette.” The fourth movement temporarily deserts the 17th and 18th
centuries to offer a graceful “Air” in the manner of a Norwegian folk
song, but the classical era returns in all its stateliness and grace in
the concluding “Rigaudon.”
_In Autumn_, a concert overture for orchestra, op. 11 (1865, revised
1888) was Grieg’s first effort to write symphonic music. This
composition is a fresh and spontaneous expression of joy in Nature’s
beauties. The principal melody is a song written by Grieg in 1865,
“Autumn Storm.” This material is preceded by an introduction and
followed by a coda in which a happy dance by harvesters is introduced.
The _Lyric Suite_ for orchestra, op. 54 (1903) is an adaptation by the
composer of four numbers from his _Lyric Pieces_, for piano—a set of
sixty-six short compositions gathered in ten volumes, each a delightful
miniature of Norwegian life. The first of the four episodes in the
_Lyric Suite_ is “Shepherd Lad,” scored entirely for strings, music in a
dreamy mood whose main romantic melody has the character of a nocturne.
“Rustic March” (or “Peasant March”), for full orchestra, has for its
principal thought a ponderous, rhythmic theme first given by the
clarinets. The third movement is a poetic “Nocturne” whose main melody
is presented by the first violins. The suite ends with the popular
“March of the Dwarfs” in the grotesque style of the composer’s “In the
Hall of the Mountain King” from _Peer Gynt_. This movement alternates a
sprightly fantastic march tune (first heard in the violins) with an
expressive melody for solo violin.
The _Norwegian Dance No. 2_ is the second of a set of four folk dances
originally for piano four hands and later transcribed by the composer
for orchestra, op. 35 (1881). This second dance, in the key of A minor,
is probably the composer’s most famous composition in a national idiom.
It is in three parts, the flanking section consisting of a sprightly
rustic dance tune, while the middle part is faster and more vigorous
contrasting music. The other somewhat less familiar, but no less
beguiling, _Norwegian Dances_ are the first in D minor, the third in G
major, and the fourth in D major.
The _Peer Gynt Suite No. 1_, for orchestra, op. 46 (1876) consists of
four numbers from the incidental music for the Ibsen drama, _Peer Gynt_,
produced in Oslo in 1876. Ibsen’s epic is a picaresque drama about a
capricious and at times spirited Norwegian peasant named Peer, and his
fabulous adventures, some of them amatory. He abducts the bride,
Solveig, then deserts her; as an outlaw he roams the world; when he
returns home he finds Solveig still believing in him and through that
belief he comes upon salvation.
The first movement of Suite No. 1 is a bucolic picture, “Morning,” in
which a barcarolle-type melody is prominent. This is followed by a
tender elegy for muted strings, “Ase’s Death,” Ase being Peer Gynt’s
mother. A capricious, sensual dance follows, “Anitra’s Dance,” a
mazurka-like melody with an Oriental identity. The final movement, “In
the Hall of the Mountain King” is a grotesque march built from a
four-measure phrase which grows in volume and intensity until it evolves
into a thunderous fortissimo.
Grieg prepared a second suite from his incidental music for _Peer Gynt_,
op. 55. Only one movement from this set is popular, “Solveig’s Song,” a
haunting Norwegian song for muted strings portraying Solveig, the
abducted bride who thereafter remains forever faithful to Peer Gynt.
This is the final movement of a suite whose preceding movements are
“Ingrid’s Lament,” “Arabian Dance,” and “Peer Gynt’s Homecoming.”
_Sigurd Jorsalfar_, a suite for orchestra, op. 56 (1872, revised 1892)
also comes from the incidental music to a play, in this case a
historical drama of the same name by Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, produced in
Oslo in 1872. The central character is the twelfth-century Norwegian
king, Sigurd, who joins the Crusades to fight heroically against the
Saracens. There are three movements to this suite. The first “Prelude”
is subtitled “In the King’s Hall,” and has three distinct sections. In
the first of these the main thought is a theme for clarinets and
bassoons against plucked strings; in the second, a trio, the most
prominent melody is that for flute imitated by the oboe; the third part
repeats the first. The second movement is “Intermezzo” or “Borghild’s
Dream.” This is serene music alternated by an agitated mood. The finale
is “March of Homage” in which trumpet fanfares and a loud chord for full
orchestra set the stage for the main theme, in four cellos. This same
theme is later proclaimed triumphantly by the full orchestra. Midway
there appears a trio in which the first violins offer the main melody.
_Two Elegiac Melodies_, for string orchestra, op. 34 (1880) are
adaptations of two of the composer’s most famous songs found in op. 33,
“Heartwounds” and “The Last Spring,” lyrics by A. O. Vinje. Both
melodies are for the most part in a somber mood. The first is in a
comparatively fast time while the second is in slow tempo.
_Two Northern Melodies_, for string orchestra, op. 63 (1895) is, as the
title indicates, in two sections. The first, “In the Style of a
Folksong,” offers its main melody in the cellos after a short
introduction. The second, “The Cowherd’s Tune,” begins with a slow,
simple tune and ends with a delightful peasant dance.
The Broadway operetta, _Song of Norway_, was not only based upon
episodes in the life of Grieg but also makes extensive use of Grieg’s
music. The book is by Milton Lazarus based on a play by Homer Curran,
and the lyrics and music are by Robert Wright and George Forrest. The
operetta opened on Broadway on August 21, 1944 (Lawrence Brooks played
Grieg, and Helena Bliss his wife, Nina) to accumulate the impressive run
of 860 performances. Since the operetta has become something of a
classic of our popular theater through frequent revivals—and since its
music is sometimes heard on concerts of semi-classical music—it deserves
consideration. The story centers mainly around the love affair of Grieg
and Nina Hagerup, and their ultimate marriage; it also carries the
composer from obscurity to world fame. Wright and Forrest reached into
the storehouse of Grieg’s music for their songs. “Strange Music,” which
became a popular-song hit in 1944 and 1945, is based on one of Grieg’s
_Lyric Pieces_ for piano, _Wedding Day in Troldhaugen_. “I Love You” is
based on Grieg’s famous song of the same name (“_Ich liebe Dich_”) which
he actually wrote to express his love for Nina; the lyric was by Hans
Andersen, and the song appeared in a set of four collected in op. 5
(1864). Musical episodes from Grieg’s G major Violin Sonata, the _Peer
Gynt Suite_, _Norwegian Dance No. 2_, the A minor Piano Concerto, and
some of the piano pieces provided further material for popular songs and
ballet music.